7 Tips to a Hassle Free Moving Day

With a new school or job comes a new living situation, and, while exciting, moving is not all fun and games. To lessen the stress of moving day, here are seven tips.

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1. PLAN AHEAD

This fact cannot be stressed enough. Think of moving like preparing for a test. You don’t want to cram all in one day but instead, you choose to learn a little as you go. Similarly, pack a few items each day so that come moving day, you’re not running around like crazy, and all you have to do is transfer taped-up boxes into cars.

Planning ahead will also limit the chance of damaging your items. With this said, here are some tips for how to pack:

•Start with the easiest thing to pack. If you’re anything like me, when it’s time to pack, I usually start by standing in my room, staring absent-mindedly at all of my stuff, and wondering how everything will fit in my car. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, so begin by packing the things you know you will not need right away and things that fit easily in boxes. Call it quits after just this first task, and you will feel much better.

•When it comes to clothes, get creative. Roll your clothes to save space, stuff your shoes with socks and underwear and use t-shirts as padding for fragile items. Make sure to keep your nice clothes hung in a garment bag. The last thing you want is to arrive at your new location and to have to spend your first day on a date with the ironing board.

•Ask around for boxes. Your neighbors and friends may have some lying around from recent purchases, and using theirs will save you a lot of money. If your friends don’t have any, ask local grocery and/or retail stores. They will have some from deliveries, and they may be willing to give them away for free if not for a very small fee.

2. ASK FOR HELP

Moving is one area of life where working independently may not be the best answer. Reach out to friends or family to come over and help pack or to help carry things into your new home. Just make sure you give them a fair warning (AKA, PLAN AHEAD). If your friends are resistant to the idea upon first request, entice them with a moving party. Provide your friends with snacks, drinks, and music. These factors in addition to the good company will make the process much easier.

3. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

No pun intended, but when it comes to moving, you need to think about more than just the boxes. Take 24-year-old Miranda Johnson, for example. This weekend she is moving out of her aunt’s house and into a townhouse with her friend.

When speaking with her, she mentioned, “I had to order collapsable box springs because our staircase is so narrow that normal size box springs wouldn’t fit. I didn’t even know collapsable box springs were a thing!”

Johnson discovered this fact just last week, and unfortunately, she just received notice that the box springs are back ordered. So, again, PLAN AHEAD.

Along the lines of thinking outside the box, make sure that before you move you have everything you need or that you at least have a plan of where you will purchase items upon arrival. Also, make sure you have all tools at the ready to assemble your bed, desk, chairs and anything else that requires handy work.

4. LISTS, LISTS, LISTS

Whether they are on your computer or in your planner, just make sure you have them. Write lists of what to pack, and then make new lists for when you unpack. This will help lessen the chance of forgetting anything on either end of the process.

5. LABELS

What could make a moving day worse than arriving at your new home and not knowing where anything is? To prevent misery for both you and your helpers, Label. Every. Box. You don’t need a fancy label maker for this, either. A simple Sharpie will do. If you want to get a little fancier, though, you can add a color flare.

6. THINK ABOUT THE DATE

If you are moving to a new location for a new job or start of an academic year, think carefully about when you want to move in. Try to avoid moving in the morning that something begins. You will be rushed, and chances are that it will take you much longer to unpack.

Give yourself an extra day so that you have a day to dump everything in the new place plus a little extra time to begin placing things in specific rooms. Also, aim to start in the morning before it gets too hot. Grab a coffee and get going while you are energized and there is daylight.

7. ROME WASN’T BUILT IN A DAY

While this may sound contradictory to the above tip, try not to get too intense on the unpacking. Take time to survey your new place before hanging up your wall decorations and putting all of the utensils away in the kitchen. If you try to do too much, in the end, you will be unhappy. Posters will be ripped, and you will end up reorganizing a week later. Plus, your friends may not be too pleased if they spend the day being yelled at.

Remember that this moving process is for exciting reasons because you are on a new adventure! So, sit back, grab a pen and paper, and take the time to plan your perfect moving day.

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I'm a junior at Gettysburg College with a self-designed major called Writing and Performing Media, and I am a Spanish minor. When I'm not studying, I'm probably running with the cross country or track team, hanging out with my sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, looking at pictures of my dog or eating (mostly desserts). I love all things journalism, and I have a strong passion for storytelling.